


Blurred Lines

by bluedragoninamber



Series: Unexpected Affection-Dooku/Qui-Gon Jinn Fics [3]
Category: Pre-Star Wars: The Phantom Menace - Fandom, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Legacy of the Jedi-Jude Watson
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Developing Relationship, Emotional Baggage, First Time Saying "I love you", M/M, emotional realizations, first time saying three other words which are just as important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-25 21:57:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12045090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluedragoninamber/pseuds/bluedragoninamber
Summary: Dooku does something he never thought he'd do for a reason he never thought he would, and he and Qui-Gon must deal with its impact on their new relationship.





	Blurred Lines

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Capurnia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capurnia/gifts).



** Disclaimer ** **: I don’t own it, and I am making no money off it.**

** AN ** **: This story is for Capurnia who is in the path of Hurricane Irma. Please take care of you and yours and be okay! Chronologically, this story follows my story “The Gift” but comes before my story “A Quiet Enchantment.” Qui-Gon is twenty, and he and Dooku are still very new in their relationship and trying to figure out their new dynamic. This story borrows an event from the Jude Watson novel, “Legacy of the Jedi,” when a preteen Lorian Nod betrays Dooku’s friendship. The rest of that book, however, is not canon for this story. The prompt for this story was “forgiveness.” This was supposed to be fluffy smut but turned out angsty. Hope you still like it!**

            “How could you, Master? I could have taken him easily! You didn’t need to intervene!” Qui-Gon was usually an easygoing young man, but he did have a temper. And Dooku had triggered it.

            Dooku winced and made sure to lock the door of their quarters. He didn’t want anyone walking into this.

            “Padawan, you are adept with a lightsaber, but the man had two blasters! You’ve had no experience deflecting bolts from two at a time!” Dooku wished he could get close enough to wrap his arms around the younger man, but Qui-Gon’s Force signature was so unsettled it would only make it worse.

            “I’ve dealt with two different people firing blasters at the same time; this was no different!” Qui-Gon had dumped his gear carelessly on the floor and was now pacing their common room, his braid whipping around his face with his sharp movements.

            Dooku reached into the Force, trying to steady himself in hopes of exerting calm over his padawan. It didn’t work. Resorting to deep breathing, Dooku closed his eyes a moment. He hadn’t meant to intervene in the fight; truly, he hadn’t. They had been expecting a skirmish after all. Down in the seedier parts of Coruscant, it was nearly unavoidable. But Dooku hadn’t expected the man to have two blasters and to be able to use them both at the same time. And he definitely hadn’t expected his padawan to be caught in between that man and another gang nearly at his back.

            Dooku had acted without further thought than that his padawan…the love of his life…was in danger. Makashi was weak against multiple blasters, but Dooku was a master of more lightsaber forms than just Makashi. He’d blocked the bolts that would have hit Qui-Gon and hustled them both out of the line of fire.

            Qui-Gon hadn’t even gotten a chance to engage the man.

            Opening his eyes, Dooku sighed heavily. “I was wrong.” He hesitated, trying to find the words for what he needed to say next. “But I just…I didn’t want…I didn’t want you to get hurt.” He shook his head. That still wasn’t right. He felt tears prick the corners of his eyes, and he blinked hard. “I love you, Qui-Gon,” he choked out, viciously biting down on the sob that tried to break free. He could see what might have been…the younger man, riddled with blaster bolts, dying in his helpless arms.

            Qui-Gon’s pacing stopped abruptly. His breath caught. “What did you say?” he asked, his voice strangled.

            Dooku felt his padawan’s shock across their bond. Had he really never told Qui-Gon that he loved him? Surely, the young man knew…

            “No, Master, I never knew.” Qui-Gon’s voice was low and shaking. “I always hoped that you did, but you…you’ve never been the type to speak about your feelings.” The younger man sighed. “I tried to let that be enough. It should have been enough...”

            “No!” Dooku interrupted. He realized now what he’d not before. Qui-Gon deserved not only his body. He deserved his heart. Lorian Nod had betrayed Dooku, but that didn’t mean that he should refuse to love for the rest of his life. And Qui-Gon, Dooku knew, would never be like Lorian Nod. “It should never have been enough. It is not enough, and I have been so very, very wrong.” Again, the picture of Qui-Gon dying in his arms flashed into his mind, and this time, he did not bother to blink back the tears.

            Qui-Gon saw them. Alarmed, he said, “Master? But you never cry…”

            “I could have lost you!” Dooku ground out the words. “You could have died today, and you would never have known.” He took a breath. “That was why I intervened Qui-Gon, and I was wrong to do it. But I did it because I love you.” He swallowed a sob. “The one time I truly loved another, even just in pure friendship, he betrayed me. Forgive me, Padawan, but I have no idea how to do this!”

            Steady hands settled on Dooku’s shoulders. “You’re afraid, Master.” Qui-Gon’s words were all shock and quiet wonder. “You’re actually afraid.”

            Dooku swore, something his padawan had never heard him do. “Force, yes, I am afraid! I acted today out of the fear of losing you because I love you!” He grabbed his padawan’s hands, stilling his trembling with their strength. “Forgive me, Padawan. I don’t know where the line is anymore between us.”

            A gentle smile graced Qui-Gon’s face. “I forgive you the intervention, Master. But I cannot, I will not, forgive the love that drove it. If loving someone is a crime against the Force, we are both guilty as charged.”

            Dooku exhaled gustily, startled to find himself against the wall, his padawan on his knees at his feet. He reached down and halfheartedly tried to keep the younger man from unfastening his robe and leggings.

            Qui-Gon just grinned and tenderly pushed his hands away. “We will talk, Master…later. Right now, let me just show you what it means to me to hear you say those words.”

            “I love you.” Dooku whispered, the words a revelation as Qui-Gon took him into his mouth with exquisite care. His padawan had proven an adept student of this particular loving art, and he made full use of his skills to bring his master to a beautifully helpless satisfaction. Qui-Gon’s strong arms eased him gently down to the floor to slump against the younger man’s chest.

            “We’ll figure this out, Master. I promise,” Qui-Gon said, his lips soft and reassuring against his own.

            “I trust you,” Dooku said.

            As much as Qui-Gon treasured his master’s words of love, that sentence meant even more.

            “Force grant that I will be proven worthy of your trust,” the younger man said.

            Dooku looked into his eyes. “You already are.”

            And he meant it.


End file.
